Local News - Lubbock Online.com - One Burglar receives sentence

Thursday, February 5, 1998Last modified at 1:18 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 1998

One Burglar receives sentence

Following in the footsteps of his partner in crime, Lubbock's second so-called condiment burglar pleaded guilty Wednesday to vandalizing several homes with a gooey mix of kitchen goods.

Steve Chapa Sanchez III, 19, was sentenced Monday in the 140th District Court to 11 years in prison for burglary of a habitation, said Assistant Criminal District Attorney Melissa McNamara.

In early January, Victoriano K. Salazar, 19, pleaded guilty in the 364th District Court to two separate burglary indictments and was sentenced to eight years in prison for each indictment. He is serving those terms concurrently.

Sanchez and Salazar were indicted in July for four separate burglaries following a rash of nearly a dozen break-ins between March and June.

The duo apparently burglarized and vandalized 11 homes while the residents were away, often cooking the residents' food and usually dumping condiments from the refrigerator on the floors, cabinets and walls, prosecutors said.

In some cases, a gooey mix of items such as barbecue sauce, corn syrup and mayonnaise would be poured onto furniture and personal items including family photographs.

As a condition of his parole, Sanchez was ordered to pay an estimated $63,000 in restitution to his victims, McNamara said.

Sanchez also pleaded guilty Monday to one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and two counts of criminal trespass of a habitation. He was sentenced to a year in the county jail for each charge.

Sanchez will serve all his sentences concurrently in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.